


A Place for Me Inside Your Heart

by GloriaGilbertPatch



Series: Skirt Suits [5]
Category: Suits (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-26
Updated: 2016-06-26
Packaged: 2018-07-18 09:44:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7309945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GloriaGilbertPatch/pseuds/GloriaGilbertPatch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>3x10 from Scottie's perspective.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Place for Me Inside Your Heart

**Author's Note:**

> Literally nothing here is mine, and all real people and entities are referenced fictitiously. Title is from the song, "Stay With Me," by Black English (previously No).

Dana went straight to the bar, not even bothering to go up to change her clothes, ordered a glass of wine, and left her tab open. This was going to be a long night and she didn’t even want to think about it. God. What had happened to her life? Casually valedictorian _and_ homecoming queen in high school, general and departmental honors at Chicago, first in her class at Harvard. Law Review, SCOTUS clerkship, her pick of top firms. Partnership at thirty, success, wealth – all while turning heads everywhere she went, because she was beautiful and easily looked ten years younger than she was. She had had everything: Brains, looks, money, and the wherewithal to make the most of them. And yet here she was, sitting alone at the hotel bar, losing herself in overpriced white wine as she struggled to find a way to keep everything she’d worked for from falling to pieces around her.

She spotted Harvey a couple of minutes in. He approached her appearing as chagrined as a man can while simultaneously looking like a Tom Ford model, and neither of them smiled as he sat down opposite her in silence. She waited a moment before speaking, lowly.

“You have something to say to me?”

“I’m sorry, Scottie,” he said, with obvious difficulty. “I didn’t believe you, but you were telling the truth.” He scrunched up his face as if he were in pain, as if there were nothing more terrible in the world than that a person who had been so close to him for so long _hadn’t_ gone out of her way to hurt him. She shook her head.

“Why does it always have to be _so_ – ”

“I said I was sorry.”

“You didn’t mean it.”

“I meant it,” he said firmly. “But just because I was wrong about you betraying me doesn’t mean I was wrong to think that you might have done it.”

“See, this is what I mean, Harvey. If you thought anything of me, you’d know I’d never do that.”

“I _do_ think something of you, which is why I’m going to tell you this: Get out. Honor the dissolution agreement, and move on.”

He sounded so fucking earnest, but _really_.

“You’ve got to be kidding me. You want me to put _all_ the liability on Edward?”

“The liability belongs on Edward,” he insisted.

“So when you say that you think something of me, what you actually mean is you want me to help you to bail on Darby International.”

“Scottie, when this lawsuit’s over, there’s not going to be a Darby International.”

“You don’t know that,” she said, coolly, taking a sip of wine.

“What I know is you have a chance to get another job before everything hits the fan. You won’t in another week.”

“I won’t need another job when I right the ship,” she answered, even though she wasn’t entirely sure she believed it.

“You’re not _going_ to right the ship. If you were on that jury, the only question you’d ask is how many zeroes to put on the check.”

Dana sighed, thinking. He wasn’t wrong – but loyalty did have to count for something. She knew it did with Harvey, and he knew it always had with her.

“You want me to turn my back on the man that I’ve been in the foxhole with for the last ten years,” she murmured. “Would you do the same?”

“If that man turned out to have sanctioned murder without my knowledge and let me take the hit, I would,” he answered. She looked down. Easier said than done.

“Hmm.” She was still contemplating her fingers as they wound and twisted around each other. Logically, of course, Harvey really was right. Edward had allowed something truly heinous to happen and then had committed all sorts of other crimes to cover it up. And yet – he was still the man who had taken her in, taken a chance on a bright but still fairly green young lawyer, moved her to London and shown her the ropes when she was alone in a strange city with no friends. She owed him something for that, because she was smart and tenacious and the best at what she did, but she knew well enough that no one got to the top without at least a little help.

“Well, like it or not, you’re in the foxhole with me,” she said finally. “So order a glass of your Macallan 20-pretentious, and let’s figure out how we’re going to fight this thing together.”

He looked at her and shook his head ruefully, but she smiled and nodded in reply. This might be almost fun.

She noticed a waiter hovering nearby, discreetly, and caught his eye. He came over to her and she smiled.

“Macallan 25, neat, for the gentleman,” she said calmly. “The name on the tab is Scott.”

“Of course, ma’am,” he said politely. “May I get you anything else?” She glanced at her glass of wine and considered.

“I’m fine for now,” she answered, finally. “Thank you.” He disappeared, and Dana turned her attention back to Harvey.

“All right. So…what are we going to do next?”

“Honestly, Scottie? Stephen ordered murders, Edward knew and didn’t report it, and they’re not even just regular employees whose professional actions the firm _might_ liable for; they’re equity partners. I don’t see that there’s anything we _can_ do.”

“Come on, Harvey, it’s you and me.” She raised her eyebrows. “I refuse to believe you think there’s anything we _can’t_ do.”

"Well..." he began, reluctantly. "Ava Hessington did try to fire the firm, you know, for refusing to bribe the witnesses Cameron was bringing in.”

“She did?” Dana asked, not quite surprised but still a little bit disappointed. Harvey nodded, looking like he desperately needed a drink, and she glanced toward the bar, glad to see that the waiter seemed to have procured his scotch and was on his way back.

“Yeah,” he nodded. “Stephen talked her back into us, probably because anyone else would have found out – ” He cut off abruptly as he accepted his drink from the waiter, then closed his eyes, and took a long sip.

“She was never charged with bribing, or attempting to bribe, those witnesses,” Dana said slowly. Harvey shook his head.

“No. She wasn’t. But she could be, if it comes out.” He shrugged, morosely. “It’s privileged, but there are ways around that, and she just sued the firm.” He took another sip of his scotch and sighed. “I fucking miss M&A. No one gets God damn _murdered_ in M &A.”

“I dunno, Harvey, you came pretty close with the capital guys on that pharma deal, what was it, Bristol-Meyers Squibb and…someone?”

“Yeah, but Deutsche Bank are dicks, everyone knows that,” he said, but she could see the corners of his mouth twitching and knew he would come out all right on the other side.

“Harvey,” she said softly. “It’s gonna be okay. We’re gonna figure this out.”

He drained the rest of his scotch and caught the waiter’s eye for a refill.

“You still buying?” he asked. Dana nodded.

“Then maybe we will,” he concluded, and she rolled her eyes but chuckled in spite of herself.

\--

Dana woke up the next morning to the insistent buzzing of her cell phone and reached for it, still a little hazy. New York number, not Harvey’s. Hmm. She really needed to get on something resembling a normal sleep schedule. Seven o'clock should _not_ feel early.

“Dana Scott,” she said, finding her bearings.

“Dana, good morning. This is Jessica Pearson. We need to talk. Can you come into the firm shortly?”

She didn't really appreciate being summoned, but between professional responsibility, the lawsuit, and the fact that she didn't have much else on her plate, it was a no-brainer.

“Sure,” she said easily. “I can be there by eight, is that okay?”

“That will be fine,” Jessica assured her, and hung up. Dana tossed her phone on the bed and contemplated her hair. She could probably make this work without a shower.

In the end, half an hour, a colorful dress, and more hair product than she wanted to think about had her looking good enough to head over. She briefly considered a cab, but midtown traffic during rush hour sounded like more trouble than it was worth, and she walked the couple of blocks between her hotel and the office, stopping to give her name at the desk since she still didn’t have a keycard. They had never quite prioritized cross-office security access, though at this point it probably didn’t matter.

She took the elevator up to the fiftieth floor, heading for Jessica’s office, but was waylaid at reception by the woman herself.

“Right on time,” she said with a smile, extending her hand, which Dana shook. “Good morning, Scottie."

“Morning, Jessica,” she answered automatically. “What did we need to discuss?”

Jessica smiled enigmatically.

“Walk with me,” she said, and Dana obeyed.

“Have you heard anything about Travis Tanner?” she asked as they made their way toward her office. Dana shook her head.

“He’s with Smith & Devane, formerly of Clyde McPhee, represents Ava Hessington in her suit against us. Yale for law and undergrad. Beyond that, I got nothing.”

“Well, we’ve met him before. Twice. And that’s why I called you this morning.”

“I'm listening.”

“Tanner’s deposing Harvey. We need to talk about it.”

“Who’s going to handle it?” asked Dana, speeding up a little to fall in step with her.

“I am.”

“I don’t want to step on your toes, but don’t we want to consider outside counsel?” Kind of a conflict of interest for one defendant to be representing another, even if only at a deposition.

“We’ve gone down that road before. Turns out Harvey doesn’t play well with others.”

“Don’t I know it,” Dana said ruefully. “But I still think it’s a good idea to have outside counsel in that room.”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to have anyone else in that room,” Jessica replied as they reached her office.

“So you brought me in here to tell me that you _don’t_ want me to be a part of it?”

“I brought you in here to tell you to keep your cool.”

“I appreciate the condescending words of wisdom, but I’ve sat in on about a thousand depositions, and I’ve never broken a sweat,” Dana said dryly, as Jessica walked around to stand behind her desk.

“You’ve never sat in one with Travis Tanner,” Jessica assured her, sitting down. “You’re gonna need a thick skin, ‘cause he’s gonna try to get under it.”

“I’m not the one being deposed,” Dana pointed out.

“Doesn’t matter. Last time he deposed Harvey, it ended with Harvey punching him in the face.”

“That’s Harvey, not me.”

“And if Harvey hadn’t done it, I might have.”

Well. That was something.

“What are you talking about?”

“Tanner knew all about Harvey’s mother. Came with a whole story about how I’m Harvey’s mother and what Harvey wants to _do_ to his mother, and that story was bullshit.”

“I get it,” said Dana, softly. “He’s not gonna need a bullshit story with me.”

"No,” Jessica said coolly. “He’s not. And we’re going to need you not to react. Don’t give him anything he doesn’t already have.”

“Look, Jessica, you have my word. I’ll keep my cool.”

“Even if he spends, say, twenty minutes calling you a variety of synonyms for, ‘whore,’ on the record?”

Dana rolled her eyes slightly, and sat down.

“I’m a woman. I’m pretty. I work in corporate law, and I kick ass. If you honestly think I’ve never been called a whore on the record, then I wanna know what kind of clients you’ve been working for and what kind of adversaries you’ve been facing, and how I can poach them.” She sighed. “If he calls me a whore or a bitch or a cunt, I’ll ask him to stop. Politely. If he calls me _Harvey’s_ whore, or bitch, or cunt, I’ll be a little less polite. But come on, Jessica. You know I wouldn’t have made it as far as I have if I didn’t have a thicker skin than Harvey does.”

Jessica smiled approvingly and held Dana’s gaze.

“Good,” she said, after a moment. “Well, then, I suppose we’re ready. Deposition’s at nine tomorrow morning, fiftieth floor conference room. I’ll see you then.”

"Is there anything you want me to take care of before then?” asked Dana, awkwardly, rising from her chair but not quite sure where to go next.

“I’d say prep Harvey for the deposition, but unless you know how to treat his hotheadedness…”

“Don’t be silly. It’s incurable.” She looked around a little, finally at a bit of a loss. “It’s weird, you know? Not…working.”

“There aren’t any matters you’re handling for London?”

Dana shook her head.

“I shifted my active cases to a couple of senior associates for the time being so that I could take the lead on the dissolution,” she admitted. “They’re still my clients; I’m the attorney of record; but I don’t want to butt in just because I’m bored.” She shrugged. “Besides, it’s good for the associates to get the practice. Whole point of the hierarchy, right?”

“It is,” Jessica agreed, looking approving again, before shrugging. “Well. As long as we’re on the subject, you _are_ still technically a member of this firm and privy to our files, and frankly with your expertise there are a couple of matters here that could use your consulting. Just don’t try to steal any clients,” she warned, with a light smile.

“Client allocations are locked,” Dana replied immediately, with a cool smile in return. She liked Jessica Pearson, but she wasn’t about to let the woman patronize her, and if that meant reminding her of Dana’s most recent victory, so be it.

“That they are,” Jessica agreed, before reaching for a legal pad and scribbling a few names on it.

“Boone in tax law?” Dana asked, frowning, as she tried to read Jessica’s loopy scrawl.

“Having some issues with an inversion. I hear that’s a specialty of yours.”

“I'm second only to St. Paddy's Day in making Americans, Irish,” she said wryly. “Sure I won’t be stepping on anyone’s toes, though?”

“You would be if you were Harvey, but Boone’s a straight shooter and she’ll appreciate the help if you act like a normal human being.”

They rolled their eyes in unison and Dana turned to leave, glancing again at the paper in front of her to make out the office location of this Boone woman.

\--

She spent a productive couple of hours helping iron the wrinkles out of a tricky tax inversion, and, really, she privately did have to agree with Harvey. Murders were a hell of a lot more annoying – and a hell of a lot less interesting – than corporate law. The time passed quicker than expected, and Boone turned out to be pretty good company, too. It really was kind of a shame that the Pearson Darby merger hadn’t worked out.

“Wait, how are we billing this?” Dana asked, suddenly realizing that she had no idea. “What do I have to do to get added as a timekeeper?”

“Don’t worry about it; it’s contingent,” the other woman assured her. “I’d give you the billing number for billable-hour purposes, but given that you’re on the other side of the split…”

“No, I get it,” she laughed. “Never mind my time; I just wasn’t about to let them off the hook if they were paying hourly.”

“Nor should you,” Boone agreed. “Hey, do you wanna grab some dinner? I would _not_ have finished tonight without your help.”

“I’d love to,” Dana started, slowly, “but I’m going to be at Travis Tanner’s deposition of Harvey Specter in the morning, and I’ve been warned that it’s not gonna be pretty.” Boone rolled her eyes.

“Nothing ever is with Harvey, unless you count his face.”

“Ha. Good point.”

“Look, I understand you’ve got a shitty morning, but as far as I can tell that’s all the more reason to have a little fun first. Especially since we can expense it.”

Dana grinned.

“Okay, you’re on.”

They ended up having a nice dinner that didn’t run too late but _was_ effective at keeping Dana’s mind off the impending deposition, which, as she thought about it the next morning, was probably a really good thing. She stopped at Jessica’s office first thing and privately couldn’t help thinking that she could have used a night thinking about someone other than Harvey, herself.

Travis Tanner wasn’t there yet, but they met up with Harvey in the conference room and shook hands with the court reporter before taking their seats, Jessica to Harvey’s left and Dana to his right.

“Harvey,” Jessica said crisply, pouring herself a glass of water and giving him a strict look. “Do not hit him this time.”

“I’m making no promises,” Harvey answered, and Dana shook her head. Boys.

A dark-haired, reasonably good-looking man knocked on the door, then, and let himself in before any of them had had the chance to stand up.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Harvey Specter and Jessica Pearson, and you must be Dana Scott? Travis Tanner,” he said, extending his hand only to her. Dana looked down at it for a minute before shaking briefly.

“Are we ready to get started?” Jessica said, before there was time for Dana or Tanner to add anything to their introduction. Harvey nodded, and Tanner grinned and turned to the court reporter.

“Swear Mr. Specter in?” he said, almost politely, and they were off.

“Feels like old times,” Tanner said, once the preliminaries were taken care of. “Lot of good memories in this room.”

“Bring back the taste of blood in your mouth?” Harvey asked sharply, and Jesus, Harvey, maybe _don’t_ remind opposing counsel that you assaulted him the last time you saw him? Tanner took it in stride, though, smiling before he spoke.

“Oh, I’m a shark, Harvey; I love the taste of blood. Speaking of which – when you accepted this case, did you make a side deal with Edward Darby where he agreed to make you managing partner over Jessica Pearson if you won?”

“Yes, I did,” Harvey said calmly. “But that isn’t a side deal. That’s an incentive.”

“What it is, is a conflict of interest.”

“That is not true,” Jessica cut in. “If anything it made Harvey work _harder_ for Ava.” Tanner gave a bit of a knowing smile, and yeah, Dana could see where this was going – remind Jessica of how Harvey’d almost betrayed her. She was cool as ever, though; Dana had to hand it to her.

“Whatever gets you through the night. The truth is, Edward Darby doesn’t make that deal unless you have leverage. You knew Darby couldn’t lose because Stephen Huntley’s murders would be discovered, isn’t that correct?”

“No, it isn’t,” Harvey answered, still calm.

“So, prior to the trial starting, you didn’t know that Stephen Huntley orchestrated those murders?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“What if I told you I have evidence that you did?”

“I’d say you’re full of shit.”

“And whether he knew or not is irrelevant,” Dana said, cutting in coolly, “since Edward Darby stipulated that _he_ knew, making Mr. Specter liable anyway.”

“Oh, it’s relevant,” insisted Tanner with a smile. “Because two days ago, Mr. Specter tried to cut a deal to split off from Edward Darby behind your back.”

 _Of course he did_. Dana tried not to let it show, but she couldn’t completely hide her reaction and Tanner latched on.

“Oh, I see. Harvey didn’t tell you.”

“If Harvey had told me, it wouldn’t be going behind my back,” she answered with a smile. “And I’m not going to blame him for doing what’s in his nature any more than I’d blame you for being an asshole.”

“Ooh,” Tanner grinned. “Feisty _and_ hot. Now I get why he can’t stay away from you.”

“Tanner, last time Harvey knocked you out,” Jessica said, her voice a warning. “You don’t start acting like a human being this time, you’re gonna have to deal with me.”

“Hey, I’m not the one who screwed my old girlfriend while she was engaged. Kind of a dick move, Harv.”

“That’s enough,” Dana said quickly.

“Wait a second,” Tanner said, sounding almost serious for the first time. “How come she jumped in, and you didn’t?” He stared at Harvey’s stone face and smiled. “She didn’t tell you she was engaged. You can’t trust the hot ones.”

“Come after _me_ , Tanner. That’s what you’re here for,” Harvey insisted. Dana sat quietly, hating every moment but not wanting to make it any worse.

“Oh, I get it,” Tanner said softly, smiling again. “You actually care about her.” He stood and buttoned his jacket. “I think I’ve gotten everything I need right now. But, since it was so much fun, I’m going to go ahead and reserve the right to do this again.”

Dana kept her expression subdued and neutral as long as Tanner, and then the court reporter, were in the room, as much for Jessica’s benefit as for the general good of the situation. She wasn’t going to let the other woman see her sweat, or think that she couldn’t conduct herself more professionally than Harvey could. Even when Tanner was attacking her sexual proclivities. Even when Tanner was pointing out how badly Harvey had intended to screw her over, no matter how much scotch she'd bought him or how many promises he’d made.

She went to the ladies’ room to splash some water on her face and try to calm down, but the longer she sat with it, the more pissed she got. After they’d _just_ had a conversation about trusting each other, after he’d come to her actually apologizing for not having trusted her, he went and -

She turned off the sink and took off for Harvey's office.

“Son of a bitch,” she said, pissed, as she strode in.

“I’m sorry you had to sit through that personal attack,” Harvey said, sounding sincere. He’d taken his jacket off, but right now Dana was angry enough to be immune to the sight of Harvey Specter in a vest.

“Oh, you think _that’s_ what I’m pissed about? _You_ tried to cut a deal that would screw Edward _and_ me in the process.”

“I tried to include you. You said no,” he pointed out, closing the door.

“Oh, you think that makes it any better?”

“Scottie. All this is, is Tanner trying to get us to fight among ourselves.”

“Well, he’s doing a damned good job of it.”

“You think he didn’t say some things in there that got to me, too?” Harvey said, in what she knew was the closest he’d come to berating her for the cheating. “Well, I’m not bringing them up because right now, we need to stick together.”

“Sticking together means telling the truth, so tell me: Whose idea was it to cut that deal, yours or Jessica’s?”

“It was hers,” he insisted. “And I didn’t want to go behind your back just like you didn’t want to go behind Darby’s, but I did because in the end, I knew I didn’t have a choice. And neither do you, you just haven’t seen that yet.” He stood behind his desk, staring at her with an expression that was, almost surprisingly, completely even and dispassionate, and she could feel her resolve weakening. She didn’t want to hurt Edward. He had meant well, really…and he had always been there for her, ready to share in _her_ professional liabilities. As _partners_. It would be a complete and total betrayal to turn on him, and yet...was she really supposed to stand by for cold-blooded murder?

“I can’t,” she said softly. “I can’t do that to Edward. I won’t.” She bit her lip. “I’m sorry, Harvey, but he – I was his protégée. He treated me like his own daughter.”

“He treated Ava like his daughter, too, and then he framed her for murder,” Harvey answered harshly, and Dana was blinking back tears.

“I have to go,” she mumbled, turning and rushing from the room.

“Scottie – wait, Scottie…”

She didn’t turn around when he called; didn’t hold the elevator when she saw him half-heartedly coming after her. Yes, she could be tough for Travis Tanner. But Harvey just fucking refused to see how personal the whole thing was for her, and she _couldn’t_ be around him. Not until she’d had a chance to grieve.

It was a rough night, with a little more alcohol and a little less sleep than she usually would have preferred, but the whole thing just kept playing over and over in her head like a career-ruining Vine: Tanner launching stupid personal attacks, Harvey trying to cut a deal, Stephen ordering murders and Edward _sanctioning_ them and letting her and everyone else take the fall. There was nothing she wanted less than to go back to the office in the morning, but somehow she managed to drag herself out of bed and into the insultingly bright sunshine.

“Hello, Scottie,” called out a sleazy voice she quickly recognized as Travis Tanner’s, and if he was going to greet her casually she was happy to do the same.

“Tanner,” she answered, easily. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh, I just came to bring you a coffee in the morning,” he said, extending his arm to offer her a paper cup.

“After meeting you, I’d say there’s an 80% chance there’s a roofie in there,” she replied, not accepting the drink and turning away from him.

“No roofie,” he assured her, with a smile. “Just a skinny vanilla latte with extra whip and a shot of caramel.” In other words, exactly the disgusting, diabetes-in-a-cup the barista at the Starbucks around the corner made for her on the shittiest of mornings.

“You looked up my favorite drink?” she asked, suspiciously, turning back towards him.

“It’s all part of the package,” he said with a big smile, coming closer.

“You’re here to split me off from Harvey?”

“Well, he did the same to you, and you wouldn’t even know about it if it weren’t for me.”

“You’re a regular Mother Teresa.”

“Look, I just came to tell you that we can take it easy on you if you’ll just maybe say that Harvey knew about Stephen Huntley two months ago.”

Dana smiled and put on her best innocent smile.

“That would be a lie,” she reminded him.

“Maybe it would just be conjecture presented as fact.”

“Look, I’m gonna say it because you already know it: I betrayed Harvey once. It’s _never_ going to happen again.” She was firm, still not taking the proffered latte, and Tanner looked down for a moment.

“Okay, well, then I’ll just have to hear your side of the story at your deposition.” He pulled what was obviously legal notice out of his inside pocket and handed it to her. She looked down at it, holding back her sigh, and took it from him. Today. Fuck. She might have to get a comfort Starbucks for herself after all.

\--

She walked straight to Jessica's office when she got to the firm and handed her the notice with an eye roll and a long pull of her caramel caffè vanilla frappuccino.

“I’m being deposed, and I don’t want Harvey there,” she announced, and Jessica shook her head.

“Believe me, I don’t want him there either, but he’ll insist, and even if he didn’t, Travis Tanner would drag him in personally.”

“He gave me a hard time about my sex life during _Harvey’s_ deposition, and Harvey flew off the handle,” Dana said quietly. “I just don’t want…”

“I know. But you really don’t have a choice.”

“It’s _my_ deposition. Harvey’s not named personally in the suit; you could be here on behalf of – ”

“Scottie. When I said Travis Tanner would personally drag Harvey in? I meant it. Literally. And then, in addition to being angry, Harvey would insist on your paying his dry cleaning bill.” Jessica sighed slightly. “Let’s just tell him. It’ll be easier – and cheaper – in the long run.”

Dana took another sip of her frappuccino before dropping it in Jessica’s trash.

“That’s half-full,” Jessica noted as they left. Dana shrugged.

“I really only wanted half. More than that’s too much, not to mention the calories.”

Jessica sighed and turned to her assistant.

“Have maintenance change my trash bag, okay?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Then she was off, and Dana was walking double-time to keep up with her stride. They paused at Donna’s desk, but at the dark look on Jessica’s face, were waved right through.

“Jessica,” Harvey said coolly, standing, before his eyes lit on Dana. “And Scottie. What are you two doing here so early in the morning?”

“I’m being deposed,” Dana said crisply. “I wasn’t going to tell you, but Jessica said you’d figure it out anyway, so I’m here to tell you to keep your cool.”

“Are you kidding?” he scoffed, and Dana rolled her eyes, taking heart from the fact that Jessica was doing the same thing.

“He clearly has your number, and I would rather not see more blood shed over this pipeline.”

“Oh, now, Scottie, that’s just low.”

“I don’t even care. I’m the one being deposed; you’re there as my lawyer; do not hit him.”

“I’m there as _Pearson Darby Specter’s_ lawyer.”

“Between Scottie and me, we have that covered, actually,” Jessica interjected smoothly. “And I’m with her. Behave, Harvey. I’m not saying Tanner doesn’t deserve to get punched in the face. I’m saying I don’t want _you_ to do it.”

“Are we done lecturing me, now?” Harvey asked, starting to sound a little annoyed. “When is this deposition, anyway?”

“Now…approximately,” Dana answered. Harvey immediately reached for his jacket.

They walked together more or less in tandem to the conference room and had just sat down when Tanner appeared, grinning at each of them.

“Harvey, Jessica, Scottie…looking even hotter than you did an hour ago, good for you,” he said with a smirk, and Dana forced herself not to react. At least he hadn’t tried to get her to shake his hand this time.

“Let’s get this over with,” she said, doing her best to sound completely disinterested.

“I prefer, ‘let’s get this bad boy started,’ but whatever you say,” Tanner replied, to a tandem eye-roll. The court reporter swore Dana in and they quickly went through the basics. In a way it was almost soothing, identifying herself for the record and answering the routine questions she’d asked deponents hundreds of times. And then she remembered last time and that this was definitely not going to be fun.

“All right, now let’s get to the stuff we really need to know,” Tanner said snidely, smoothly rounding the corner from rote discussion of Dana’s educational background and résumé. She took a deep breath and offered an exceedingly fake smile.

“When did the firms of Pearson Hardman and Darby & Cooke merge?”

“That’s a vague question.”

“I’ll rephrase. When did Jessica Pearson and Edward Darby, as respective managing partners, _decide_ to support a merger?”

“February of this year.”

“And what type of corporate form does the firm take?”

“It’s a limited liability partnership.”

“On what date did Harvey Specter sign the partnership agreement?”

“I can’t speak with certainty to that.”

“Did he sign it?”

“Yes.”

“And the date it went into effect?

“March 3, 2013.”

“So on March 3, 2013, Mr. Specter, previously a partner of Pearson Hardman, and you, previously a partner of Darby & Cooke, were both admitted to the partnership of Pearson Darby?”

Dana paused.

“Legally, the name is Darby International, with this office formally taking the name of Darby Pearson. But yes, informally, that is correct.”

“Ms. Scott, to your knowledge, did Harvey Specter want this merger?”

“No, he didn’t.”

“And did you try to force it on him because you’d lost to him numerous times and you wanted to get him back?”

Ugh, as if she couldn’t beat him if she actually tried; if it _actually_ mattered to her.

“You’re the only one who’s trying to get Harvey back for losing, Tanner,” Jessica said calmly, sparing Dana the bother of having to object.

“And I’m about to be successful.”

“Isn’t it true that while you were engaged, you came to New York and slept with Harvey Specter in an attempt to get him to tell you he loved you and he said no?”

She hadn’t been engaged, not really, not yet. And she had slept with him because she wanted him. And Tanner’s form was all wrong. But…

“That is utter conjecture,” Jessica said.

“That’s why we have these depositions, so I can ask questions about things I’m conjecturing.”

“You’re not asking questions; you’re throwing mud.”

“Am I? The facts are: You had a relationship with him in law school. You worked a case against him and, shortly thereafter, ended your relationship. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to connect the dots.”

“Tanner,” Jessica cut in, but he was on a roll with the non-questions at this point.

“Did you really think that you could domesticate him? A house in Westchester, Harvey flipping burgers on the weekends? What kind of fantasy land were you living in?”

“Tanner, that’s enough; she’s not answering this line of questioning,” Harvey said, as Dana forced herself not to react.

“Then I’ll answer it for her. You loved him. He spurned you. And you set this whole thing up to get him back.”

“That’s insane,” Dana answered quietly, and it really was. If she’d been hell-bent on ruining Harvey’s life, she would have found a way that didn’t involve screwing herself at the same time.

“Which part?” Tanner followed quickly. “That you loved him? That he spurned you?” He paused. “Nothing? Wow, I guess they’re both true. We’re just not supposed to believe that you set this merger up out of anger because you knew what was coming down the pike.”

“I had no idea what was coming down the pike,” she said calmly.

“Oh, so you’re telling me that Edward Darby knew, but his number two didn’t?”

“I was not the only one that Edward Darby relied on,” she insisted firmly. “He relied on Stephen Huntley for what happened in the EIR, and they _both_ kept it from me.”

A slow smile spread over Tanner’s face as he reached for a folder in front of him.

“Then why am I holding this affidavit with Stephen Huntley’s name on it stating you knew everything?”

Dana stared at the affidavit, feeling her eyes start to fill even as she fought hard against the urge to cry. She and Stephen had been colleagues; friends – she’d gone out for happy hour drinks with him and, on the flip side, eaten takeout holed up at the office with him more times than she could count, him in shirtsleeves and her with bare feet and both of them rolling their eyes and giggling when the work got to be too much and the hours got to be too long. He’d been her partner. And he had ordered murders and now was apparently only too happy to drag her under the bus with him.

“Because he’s a lying son-of-a-bitch, you’re a piece of shit, and this is the end of this deposition,” Harvey answered aggressively, pushing his chair back so that he could stand. Dana looked up at him and took a breath, still steadying herself, as the court reporter started to pack up. She didn’t say anything. She couldn’t. She would not let Travis-fucking-Tanner see even a moment of weakness from her.

He offered her a grin as he left the room, pausing in the doorway.

“My offer still stands,” he said, sweeping out before she could respond. Harvey turned to her once Tanner was gone, a vague look of suspicion in his eyes that she just could _not_ deal with right now.

“What offer’s he talking about, Scottie?”

She shook her head.

“It’s the same as the bullshit from your deposition; he wants me to testify that you knew about the murders.”

“And what did you say?”

“Obviously I said no, or did you miss what just happened here?” She sighed. “Besides, I have literally no reason to believe you did know. Hell, _I_ didn’t know, and even if we were operating in some kind of warped reality in which I _would_ perjure myself, I would _never_ do it just to screw you over.”

“Scottie…” His voice was gentler now, almost pleading, but Dana shook her head.

“Harvey, don’t. To be honest, I’m still reeling a bit from that affidavit, and I just…not now, okay?”

Harvey nodded, looking regretful.

“Okay,” he said softly, and left the room. Dana took a long breath and looked around before quietly leaving as well. It was a little early for lunch and besides, the idea of food made her queasy, but at the moment she wanted nothing quite as much as she did to leave the office, to let herself wander off into a place where she didn’t work at Darby International or even practice law at all. A place where she’d never loved Harvey Specter, where she’d settled into a life that was, if not necessarily good, at least a little bit less shitty.

She ended up wandering around Midtown a bit, generally heading south but not particularly caring quite where she ended up. As hard as she tried, though, she couldn’t quite get her mind off the mess that had become her life. Because somehow, _she’d_ become the target of Ava Hessington’s lawsuit. Even though she barely knew the woman; even though she’d only worked on one tiny matter for her; even though she’d had nothing to do with the murders, the cover-up, or Ava’s defense. She’d had no hand in any of it, at least not more than any other senior partner at the firm (hands dirty by association), and yet _she_ was the focus.

And she wasn’t going to kid herself. She was the focus because _Harvey_ was the focus, because it wasn’t enough that he didn’t want her; that he sent her back to London and then came to her begging for a favor, trading on her love; that he offered her mercy and then kicked her when she was down because he couldn’t trust _anyone_ – no, apparently none of that was enough to humble her, and now her relationship with Harvey Specter was going to ruin her professional reputation. Which was a sad little twist of fate, considering she’d always assumed that if loving Harvey were going to hurt her career, it would have been – just to pull something off the top of her head – the time they had sex in a federal courthouse, not this. This time she’d legitimately done nothing wrong, and yet Travis Tanner and Stephen Huntley were going to drag her name through the mud, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. She had never felt so completely defeated in her life.

When anxiety over Harvey, the firm, and her future had finally simmered to a manageable level, Dana started heading back to her hotel, ready to lose herself in something mindless and to put off the crushing responsibility of Darby International’s resurrection to a later date.

In a tiny, secret way it was almost a relief. Dana had been _going_ since she was a teenager, and though she’d never been one to miss out on the finer things in life, genuinely indulging took time away from working. And being a superstar in corporate biglaw meant her time was too valuable for that. But now, when there was almost nothing she could do about anything that mattered, she felt weirdly free – to eat and drink exactly what she wanted rather than tailoring it to the company she was keeping; to wear clothes that were comfortable no matter how unprofessional or unflattering; to sit on her hotel bed and watch _How I Met Your Mother_ on Netflix and wonder how exactly a guy as boring as Ted had slept with enough beautiful women to start forgetting their names. It wouldn’t be fun forever, and she already knew that before long she’d be desperate to be back at her old job again, complaining about not getting any sleep but secretly loving every minute she was awake. But for now, she was taking a break from reality and taking it easy.

At least, she was until the following afternoon, when her planned excursion of, “sitting outside at a café and studiously not doing anything,” was interrupted by the ringing of her cell phone.

Dana frowned, not recognizing the New York number showing up, before she answered.

“Hello?”

“Scottie, hi, it’s Donna Paulsen,” was her response, and maybe Dana was just reaching for anything she could find, but the voice was comforting and she allowed herself to be just a tiny bit hopeful.

“Hi, Donna, what do you need?” she asked carefully.

“It’s good news, I promise. Can you come into the firm?”

Better than wallowing in her own misery.

“Sure, I’m just a couple blocks away,” she said, glancing slightly wistfully at her coffee and chocolate croissant. “Be there in a few minutes.”

Donna met her in the lobby of the building, which was a bit of a surprise, and immediately registered Dana’s surprise, which was not.

“I wanted to talk to you privately,” she said softly, motioning her over to a bench by the window. “Well – first – here.” She handed Dana a folder. Curious, Dana opened it…to the heading, “Transcription from Recording,” and the name of the jail where Stephen was being held while awaiting trial. She scanned through it quickly and then looked up to see a haunted look in Donna’s eyes that she was sure reflected her own.

“I don’t know what to say,” she said quietly.

“I know,” Donna replied. “I trusted him, too, I mean, I _actually_ …”

“Yeah,” Dana said, letting out a long breath and shaking her head. “Thank you for doing this. I, uh…well, not that things aren’t still a _mess_ , but it’s good to have my name cleared.”

“I can’t believe he was ready to sell you out like that.”

“Neither can I, and I’ve known him a lot longer than you have…if not exactly in the same way,” she added with a rueful smile.

“Still, I…I read people, Dana. It’s what I do. And how I could have been _so_ wrong…” Donna looked completely stricken for a really awful moment, and Dana couldn’t help feeling for her.

“He’s handsome,” she pointed out. “And he’s smart, and he’s charming, and why would you _ever_ expect a guy like that to order murders and then pin them on his own client?”

“Harvey figured it out,” Donna said bitterly. “I was too caught up in the excitement of having an affair.”

“It’s understandable.”

“Dana. _Harvey_ figured it out. You know, the man who doesn’t have the sensitivity that God gave a bull?”

“Yeah, well, everyone has blind spots. And Harvey wasn’t falling for him.”

“You don’t have to make excuses for me.”

“I know.”

“But I appreciate that you are.” Donna looked her straight in the eyes at that, and Dana could easily see her sincerity.

“And I appreciate that you went out of your way to clear my name, for the record.” She looked down for a moment, and then back at Donna. “So…am I forgiven?”

“Hmm?”

“For sleeping with Harvey when I was almost-engaged to Steve?”

“Oh, that. Yes, of course you are.”

“Really?”

“We all make mistakes, Scottie,” she said ruefully. “But…I know you really love him.” She bit her lip and then smiled slightly. “And I know he really loves you.”

“That ship sailed a long time ago,” Dana said slowly.

“Maybe,” Donna replied, lightly, as she stood up. “Doesn’t mean it’s not true. Now come on, you still have Ava Hessington’s deposition in the morning. You need to meet with Harvey.”

“Right,” she sighed, rising as well. “Guess I gotta get up there.” Donna smiled and used her security card to get them over to the elevators, turning around once Dana was safely through.

“Where are you going?”

“Home. It’s late.” She shook her head. “And neither of you needs me for this.”

“I – ” Dana sputtered, before sighing again. “Okay. Thanks, Donna.”

“You’re welcome, Scottie. Good night!” She strode away and Dana chuckled slightly, once again taking the elevator up to the fiftieth floor.

“You got a minute?” she asked, leaning slightly against the frame of Harvey’s door before striding inside. He looked up for a moment, then sipped his scotch as Dana came around to sit down opposite him.

“Donna told me that Stephen’s affidavit is dead.”

“It is, but it doesn’t matter, because Tanner’s gonna keep coming after you unless we sign this,” he said, tossing her a binder-clipped packet. She glanced at it: Settlement agreement, granting Ava Hessington damages in the amount of – holy shit. She shook her head and dropped it on the table.

“You’ll never sign this.”

“Scottie, you may not believe this, but if the decision were mine, I would,” he said, sounding surprisingly sincere. “Jessica – she wouldn’t even consider it.”

“I should’ve known. This is about you getting me to split you off from Edward so you can convince Ava to stop coming after you.”

He made an incredulous face at that, and, what, Harvey, as if that isn’t _exactly_ what you tried to do when the lawsuit started.

“This isn’t about that.”

“Then what is it about?”

“I can’t stand to see them come after you,” he said earnestly.

“Bullshit,” she said, angry now.

“It’s not bullshit.”

“You think I can’t take it!”

“Look, you’re not listening to me, okay?” he said, rising to his feet. “ _I can’t take it!_ ” He took a breath and looked down at her before continuing. “Scottie, Tanner can only come after you if Ava lets him come after you, and Ava’s only letting him come after you to get to me. Take the shackles off and let me convince her this fight isn’t with me; it’s with Edward.”

“Okay, Harvey,” she said, surprised. “Okay. You win. Shackles are off.”

“You mean it?” he asked, his expression almost boyishly incredulous all of a sudden. Dana nodded.

“It’s what’s fair, after all,” she said softly, looking up at him. “The murders – not to mention any other crimes Stephen may have committed on Ava’s behalf – happened before the merger. The liability for them really should be ours.” She nodded a little and paused. “But, Harvey, if we’re taking the hit, we’re going to need to talk revenue allocation. The Gianopoulos shit really _was_ in bad faith, and this lawsuit is going to _screw_ us, including a lot of innocent people who can’t afford to take the hit.”

“What do your finances look like? Scottie, do you need money?” Harvey asked, suddenly looking concerned. She shook her head.

“I have…not-insignificant capital tied up in the firm, sure, but business has been good enough for long enough that I was never asked for more than my buy-in, which I paid without financing. My draw’s been consistently high and the market’s bullish. I’m fine. More than fine, if I’m being honest. But some of the younger partners, especially the ones with families to support…look, Harvey, they trusted me to be their advocate. I can barely stomach doing this to Edward, and he’s guilty. Please.”

He nodded, slowly.

“You’re right,” he said quietly. “Let’s just put this to bed, okay?”

“Okay,” she agreed, finally standing, and she offered him her hand. He stared at it incredulously.

“What’s wrong?” Dana asked, looking down.

“You want me to shake your hand?” he responded, his face spreading slightly into a grin. “Scottie…I legitimately don’t remember the last time you and I shook hands.” He held his arms open, and she rolled her eyes but stepped closer, reaching for Harvey’s shoulders and letting him pull her into a hug.

“So what now?” she said, quietly, breathing in the slightly stale scent of Harvey’s cologne. He squeezed her tightly before pulling away.

“So…we talk with accounting, straighten out the details of the dissolution, and depose Ava Hessington.”

"Are you going to ask her about trying to bribe those witnesses?”

“Of course I am. But I’m going to start by reminding her that I got her a more than fair plea for a crime she absolutely committed. Cameron might’ve had the wool over my eyes when he refused to offer no contest, but she _was_ guilty of bribing the government and she didn’t see a minute of prison time for it.”

“You think she’ll go for that?” Dana asked, a bit suspiciously. Harvey shrugged.

“It’s the truth, and she knows it. Besides, she liked me. Wanted to hire me as her general counsel, at least until Cameron had her arrested.”

“Harvey Specter, general counsel to an oil company,” Dana said, smirking. “God. I would have laughed at you so hard.”

“I didn’t _take_ it; she just _offered_!”

“Whatever you say,” she said innocently, raising her eyebrows and grinning at him. He grinned back, a little reluctantly, but she could feel the mood of the room shift to something a lot more comfortable.

“So, yeah, she liked me. That means she _wants_ to like me.”

“Of course she does,” Dana replied immediately. “That…Nick guy, her right-hand man, he betrayed her, right?”

Harvey nodded.

“Then she really wants to believe that you didn’t. That you believed she didn’t order those murders, that you fought for her in good faith, that you were just as blindsided as she was. She wants to think that you were on her side.”

He nodded again, and took a drink from his glass.

“I’ll see if I can grab her, off the record.”

Dana smiled a little.

“You can. She’ll listen.”

“You think Tanner’ll let her?”

“I think she’s not the kind of woman who _lets_ anyone tell her what to do, especially a douchebag like him.”

“Hell of a client,” Harvey said, grinning fondly. Dana bit back her own smile.

“You’ve had worse,” she pointed out, amused.

“Oh, that wasn’t a complaint,” he corrected, and, really, he shouldn’t be allowed to be so charming.

\--

Ava Hessington, Dana decided, was both tougher and _tinier_ than she remembered. The woman carried herself with a confidence that never crossed over into cockiness, and she was poised and calm as she was sworn in and led through the basics, even as she stared down her three adversaries.

Well, the woman _did_ run an oil company. No doubt she’d faced a lot worse than the likes of Harvey, Jessica, and Dana. A couple of expensively dressed lawyers couldn’t exactly compare with totalitarian juntas.

“Ms. Hessington, when we first met, did you admit you bribed a foreign government to get your pipeline?”

“I pled guilty,” Ava said simply.

“I didn’t ask you what you pled,” Harvey said gently. “I asked if you did it.”

“That’s privileged,” Tanner cut in.

“Your client forfeited privilege when she sued me. Keep that in mind.”

“My client’s not suing you,” Tanner pointed out smugly. “She’s suing Pearson Darby Specter.”

“There is no Pearson Darby Specter,” Jessica said crisply, pushing forward the dissolution documents. “We split.”

Tanner chuckled.

“Edward Darby wouldn’t allow that.”

“Edward Darby doesn’t have the power to stop it,” Jessica replied.

“But I do,” Dana supplied, “and I’m not going to let you make them suffer for what Darby did.”

“Hell of a performance, Harvey,” Tanner said, shaking his head. “Backup singers and everything. It’s still not going to stop us.”

“And _he_ isn’t making them suffer,” Ava added. “I am, for what he did to me.”

“Did what to you? Get you a slap on the wrist for your original bribery charges, get you off _murder_ , or stop you from bribing witnesses?”

“Which brings me to my next question,” Harvey continued, unruffled. “Did you fire me for refusing to bribe witnesses on your behalf?”

“You’re under oath,” Jessica reminded her.

“Don’t answer that,” Tanner said, leaning in, and Dana couldn’t resist.

“I wouldn’t. It’s a federal crime.”

“She doesn’t have to. Like I said, we’re not bound by privilege, and I’ve got three witnesses, including your friend Stephen Huntley, who’d testify to it in open court.”

“You want to throw stones, Ava…we’ve got some rocks of our own,” Jessica warned. They all sat in silence for a few moments before Harvey reached forward to turn off the video camera.

“What are you doing, Harvey?” Tanner asked as Harvey got to his feet.

“I’m talking to your client off the record,” he answered.

“No, no, no, on the record or not at all.”

“No, let him speak,” Ava countered. “I want to hear what he’s got to say.”

Harvey carefully walked over to the other side of the table to take the seat next to Ava.

“Ava, you can come at us, and we can come at you, but I don’t want that.”

Ava gave him a severe look, but said nothing.

“You wanted to know if I’m sorry. I am. I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you. I’m sorry I didn’t believe you. I am sorry that my history with Cameron put a target on your back. But I am not sorry that I did everything in my power to help you every chance I got. If you don’t believe that, then keep coming. But if you do, I’m asking…put your anger where it belongs.”

They sat in silence for another long moment, and Ava shook her head ruefully.

“Tanner…” Harvey said slowly. “I hope you still have that quarter I gave you, ‘cause I think it’s time to call your mom.”

“Harvey!” Ava said sharply, but she was smiling slightly, and Dana let out a breath she hadn’t quite realized she was holding.

“Fantastic,” Tanner said, shaking his head, and dropping his folder in annoyance.

“In all seriousness, Mr. Tanner, Mr. Specter’s right. Everything he did for me was in good faith. Edward – and Mr. Huntley – are the ones who are really to blame.”

“Great. So you wanna sue them?”

“Perhaps,” she said coolly. “But in any event, your specialty is class action defense, not malpractice, so since I’m no longer targeting Mr. Specter, I will no longer be requiring your services.”

“You can go,” Harvey added. Tanner shook his head and offered a mock bow before storming out.

“I really am sorry,” he added, once Tanner was well out of earshot and the court reporter had been excused. “I should have had someone else step in as soon as Cameron made it clear he was gunning for me.”

“You should have,” Ava replied, tartly, “but, then, I suppose you’re right. I wasn’t exactly the perfect client.”

“Water under the bridge at this point,” Harvey offered graciously. Ava gave him another slight smile.

“Well, apart from the trumped-up murder charges, I was actually fairly happy with the way Pearson Darby Specter handled my company’s general corporate matters. Perhaps I was a bit too hasty letting you go.”

Harvey smiled back, genuine friendship this time without a touch of smirking.

“We can talk about a new engagement if you’d like. Louis really can do great things, if you let him.”

“Thank you,” Ava finished, rising to her feet and offering her hand to Harvey, Jessica, and Dana in turn. “Please, enjoy the rest of your day. I’ll show myself out.” She squared her slim shoulders and walked calmly out of the conference room, and Dana was suddenly starkly reminded of how much Ava Hessington had impressed her on the few occasions they’d met before.

“Well, that went well,” Harvey said, grinning, and clearly fishing for praise. Jessica rolled her eyes.

“Yes, well done, Harvey.”

To her surprise, Harvey reached for Dana and slid his arm around her waist.

“Scottie helped,” he pointed out. “Not to mention coming through with the dissolution.” It was probably more credit than Harvey had ever given her in the sixteen years they’d known each other, at least to her face.

“Then well done, both of you,” Jessica said, with a bit of a knowing smile. “Well, now that that’s done, I’m going to get back to working on behalf of clients who _aren’t_ members of this firm." She swept gracefully out the door.

“And then it was you and me,” Harvey said, as he turned to look at Dana, smiling lazily.

“Oh? And what were you thinking we should do?” she asked, trying her best not to let her voice get too suggestive.

“How about…I draft a preliminary engagement letter for Hessington Oil, just so we have it, and then I’ll cook you dinner at my place?”

“Sounds like a plan,” she said, neutrally, not yet quite sure what Harvey was getting at but well aware of his arm, still resting heavily on her hip.

“Great,” he said, finally letting her go, buttoning his jacket, and starting to gather his things. Dana looked down.

“I…guess I don’t have a job,” she said, with a bit of a smile. “I’ll go back to my hotel and get changed.”

“Meet me here in an hour?” Harvey asked, but she shook her head.

“I’ll just meet you at your place,” she told him, adding, at his vague look of surprise, “I have a key, remember?” She grinned. “You’re still on the hook for dinner, but I’ll bring the wine.”

He looked at her for a moment, clearly unsure about the goodbye gesture he should make, so she made the decision for him and, waving slightly over her shoulder, sauntered out the door.

Back at her hotel, Dana picked out a pair of slim-fitting white pants and a sleeveless sweater. It would have been nice to dress down a little more, but Harvey would be coming from work, and it wouldn’t do to be anything less than business casual when he was in one of his designer suits. She would _not_ look like the woman he was coming home to, even if that was technically what she’d be.

She popped in the liquor store and bought a few bottles, not sure what Harvey planned to cook and wanting to cover her bases, before catching a cab and going over to his place. It had only been a few days since the last time she was there, but they’d been a pretty momentous few days, and kicking off her shoes, settling in on his couch with a glass of merlot, not quite sure what her next move was going to be but free, finally, from the weight of trying to rehabilitate Darby International, felt pretty good. She’d just focus on tonight, for now – a luxury she hadn’t taken in a long time.

“Honey, I’m home,” Harvey called out, ironically, as he came through the door.

“So glad to see you, darling,” she returned, her tone equally dry, but she smiled at him as he strode over to her, shucking off his suit jacket and loosening his tie as he settled in next to her on the couch.

“That was a long day,” he declared, and he sighed a little as he leaned his head back and closed his eyes. Dana smiled at him fondly and patted his knee.

“Ended well, though,” she said cheerfully. He popped one eye open and grinned at her.

“Easy for you to say. You know how much I _hate_ drafting engagement letters.”

“Oh, right, and there’s _no_ form letter, and not even an associate or a paralegal or a secretary you could ask to do it for you.”

“Not with this client,” he answered, idly shaking his head, but he opened his eyes not long after and smiled at her.

“Thank you,” he added. “I…I know loyalty to Darby meant something to you.”

“It was the right thing to do,” she said calmly, but Harvey was persistent.

“That doesn’t make it easier, and I know that…I also know that you did it because I asked you to, and I wanna thank you for that, too.” He looked more than a little bit sheepish as he finished, so Dana only nodded.

“Well, then I should thank you for telling me you needed me to,” she said, carefully keeping her voice even. “Personally, I mean. I didn’t need to hear you say it professionally.” She grinned, then, giving him an out, and he took it gratefully, smiling back at her.

“So what are we having for dinner, Specter?” she said abruptly. 

“Chicken breasts and orzo salad,” he said smugly. Dana raised her eyebrows.

“You have the stuff for that? I’m impressed.”

“Well, sort of,” he answered with a shrug, just before his buzzer went off.

“Mr. Specter, it’s a gentleman with a delivery from Whole Foods,” came the voice of John the doorman. Dana bit back a smirk, but Harvey returned it, anyway.

“The beautiful thing about New York, Scottie, is _everyone_ delivers.” He cleared his throat. “Send him up, John.”

“Want a glass of merlot?” she offered, as they stood around slightly awkwardly waiting for the delivery guy. Harvey shrugged.

“Sure, sounds good,” he said.

“I brought white, too, but it’s still chilling,” she said, getting to her feet and casually getting a second wine glass out of Harvey’s cabinet. Behind her, she heard him answering the door and paying for his groceries, and when she turned around he had his arms full. She smiled.

“I’ll take those and you take this,” she said, offering him the glass, “and take off your tie.”

“I’ve got them, thank you, and why?” he answered, putting the groceries on the counter and accepting the wine.

“Because you don’t wear tie clips, which means that that tie is a cooking disaster waiting to happen.”

He paused, clearly considering the wisdom of her words, and obediently took off his tie and, for good measure, removed his cufflinks so that he could roll up his sleeves.

“Now you look like a Harvey Specter who’s going to cook for me,” Dana said cheerily, hopping onto one of the stools by the counter. “And I will sit here, drink wine, and keep you company. If you’re good.” She gave him a sunny smile and he good-naturedly made a face as he started poking around the kitchen for knives, pans, and a cutting board.

True to his word, though, he carefully set up the ingredients and put the meal together, perhaps not as intuitively as he might order takeout, but as she watched him baste and season and chop she had to admit that he knew what he was doing better than she might have expected. Idly she tried to remember the last time she’d seen Harvey in the kitchen – had to have been at least a decade, and infrequently even then. Dana wasn’t exactly the most patient person, and what patience she _did_ have she had never really wanted to waste on Harvey, so more often than not she’d done everything herself. Which, now that she thought about it, made tonight kind of an important first.

She snapped out of her reverie when she noticed Harvey giving her a bit of an odd look and drank her wine a little faster.

“How’s Marcus?” she asked, slightly awkwardly, as he put the chicken in the oven and moved on to his next task. “I haven’t heard from him since Christmas.”

“He sent you a card?” Harvey grinned, and Dana nodded.

“Yeah, with the photo of him and Katie and the kids. It was cute! I didn’t know anyone still sent Christmas cards, but it was cute.”

“Ever since they started having babies it’s like they want to live in some kind of TV sitcom family,” Harvey said fondly. “I swear Katie learned to make cookies just so she could be June Cleaver.”

“She any good at it?” Dana asked, raising her eyebrows. He nodded, and she smiled. “Well, then, you gotta get them to move closer.”

“All about the cookies, huh?”

“They’re kind of the point of having a sister-in-law.” She reflected. “Of course, Jen’s better at making babies, but they’re pretty cute and significantly less fattening, so.”

“How many kids do she and your brother have now?”

“Five, and look, I think it’s nuts, too, but if it keeps Mom off my case I’ll buy all of them the best that Toys R Us has to offer.”

“Five kids,” Harvey said slowly, shaking his head, as he finished up with the salad and stuck it in the fridge. “I’m still not over the first.”

Dana rolled her eyes.

“Jacob is fourteen,” she said with a bit of a groan. “You remember Jacob, right? My _baby_ nephew?”

“Scottie, I went to his christening,” he replied, bemused. “Sure, I remember him – 2L summer, right before your birthday, you were freaking out about getting old.”

She chuckled slightly.

“It happened, didn’t it? We got old,” she said softly. Harvey looked serious for a moment before offering her a charming smile.

“You’re prettier now than you were then,” he told her gallantly, “and I don’t even have to tell you that this place is a huge upgrade on everywhere I lived in law school _and_ at the DA’s office.”

“Permit me a tiny moment of nostalgia for the days before Edward Darby,” Dana said dryly, and Harvey chuckled a bit, settling in with more wine as they waited for the chicken to cook.

“I can’t believe this Tanner guy,” she added after a couple of moments of quiet.

“He’s awful,” Harvey agreed readily. “People like him are the reason people hate lawyers.”

“Harvey, you say that as if you aren’t the literal personification of the villain in a John Grisham novel.”

“No, I’m serious; he’s the sleaziest guy I’ve ever worked against. All the integrity of a personal injury guy, even though his firm has the money and the reputation that he doesn’t have to get his hands dirty like that.”

“Clearly he likes it,” she said, shrugging a bit. “All I can say is the only thing worse than whoever taught him how to examine a witness is _your_ failure to object to all those objectionable questions he asked me.”

“Jessica and I made it clear you weren’t gonna answer.”

“You could’ve done it on form, without making me look weak.”

“Hey. Scottie,” he said, suddenly urgent. “You didn’t look weak. You looked frustrated with his questions, frustrated with the situation – but you never looked weak. And I’ve seen Tanner break witnesses, okay? You held your own.”

“You’re the one who lost his cool,” she added with a smirk, changing the subject just enough to lighten the mood. Harvey grinned and opened his mouth, but before he could speak the oven timer went off.

“Dinner’s ready,” he announced. “Can you grab plates and napkins and silverware for the table?”

“Sure,” she said casually, trying not to think too hard about how well she knew the layout of Harvey’s kitchen. She made a quick second trip to pour a second set of glasses with the white wine from the fridge.

“I have an ice bucket somewhere,” Harvey said vaguely as she turned to walk back, but she shrugged him off.

“Do we really need to be that high-maintenance?” she teased. “Besides, I’m hungry.”

He considered for a minute and then shrugged as well and served them both.

“I’m hungry, too,” he admitted, and Dana laughed good-naturedly.

“Then let’s eat,” she said, easily, offering him a pert smile as they sat down and dug in.

The food was good, but she couldn’t pretend the company wasn’t better. Sometimes Dana thought she built Harvey up too much in her mind; that he loomed large in her memory but in reality was just a regular man, albeit an impossibly handsome one – and he might have been, to a different woman, but no one else had ever made her laugh so easily or so genuinely; no one else had ever cut through her bravado so cleanly; the wonderful and terrible thing about Harvey Specter was that the reality kept living up to the image.

She pushed her plate a little bit away when she realized she had stopped tasting her food, and he took another bite or two but pretty quickly followed suit before studying his empty wine glass.

“Want some more?” she asked with a grin, and he nodded, rising to his feet to go get the bottle. Dana followed him, perching easily on the kitchen island as she waited for Harvey.

“Still with the white?”

“Sounds good.”

“It was definitely a good wine,” he affirmed as he topped them both off. Dana smiled and nodded.

“We should do a toast,” she said impulsively, fiddling with the stem of her glass.

“To kicking Travis Tanner’s ass,” Harvey said with a grin as they clinked glasses, laughing.

“You got that right,” Dana agreed, smiling broadly, and drank some wine.

“Mmm…that was a pretty great meal,” she said, turning the barstool around with her foot as Harvey walked over to clean up the table.

“Couldn’t have done it without you,” he called back.

“I know, I taught you how to make it.”

“Right after we crushed the bar,” he said with a slightly nostalgic smile, coming back into the kitchen with their plates. She chuckled.

“I also remember what happened later that night,” she said suggestively as Harvey put the dishes in the sink. He looked over at her, with consideration.

“It _was_ a pretty great night.”

Dana leaned forward, watching him move around the kitchen, looking almost as domestic as the imaginary Harvey had in Tanner’s little fantasy.

“Harvey,” she said slowly, when he finished drying his hands and came closer to the counter where she was sitting. “Why am I here?”

“Well, I haven’t cooked anyone dinner for a while, and I thought you deserved it.”

“I did,” she said smoothly, “but you’ve made it clear that you don’t want more, and I don’t want to go back to the way it was, so…”

He opened his mouth and closed it before finally spitting it out.

“I want to work with you.”

“What?” she asked, confused and suspicious, as he slunk over to the sink to go back to cleaning.

“You’ve been associated with the name Darby too long,” he announced. “I can help you.”

“I don’t need your help. I’ll be fine,” she insisted, taking another sip of wine. As if she hadn’t started going through her list of contacts as soon as she agreed to the dissolution. As if she didn't already have a phone interview scheduled for tomorrow with Latham and lunch Friday with Davis Polk.

“No, you won’t, and all that stuff about Tanner coming after you and me not being able to take it, it was true. I care about you. Come to Pearson Specter.”

Dana shook her head and fought back the urge to roll her eyes. She didn't need Pearson Specter's prestige or Harvey's help, professionally. Not now. It was love or nothing.

“I _know_ that you care about me. You have made that very clear. But I am not interested in working with someone day-in and day-out where all they can manage to say is, ‘I care about you.’”

“Is that _all_ I’ve ever said?” Harvey asked, challengingly.

“Actually, yes. Over and over again, ‘I care about you.’ Just what every girl wants to hear.”

“Scottie, that’s – ”

“No, no, _no_.”

He looked down and shook his head, and Dana let hers rest in her hand. Here they were, at an impasse, and Harvey was forty and she was thirty-eight but they might as well have been twenty-five and twenty-three for all the progress they’d made since the _last_ time they’d had this discussion.

“If all you want to do is work with me, I can find a job somewhere else,” she said softly, and started wrapping her brain around leaving.

“It’s the best I can – ” he started, and faltered. Dana rolled her eyes and moved about the apartment, gathering her things.

“Sorry, I should just go, I don’t – ” she began, not looking at him.

“Scottie, that’s not all I want,” Harvey answered, coming towards her and laying a hand on her arm. She stopped moving and looked up at him.

“Then say it,” she said, trying to sound firm even though she knew she was begging.

“I want you in my life,” he said finally, holding her gaze, and this – this really was the best he could do, and she knew it.

“Okay,” she whispered, nodding, as his hands came to rest on her waist. “Okay, Harvey, I’ll stay.” His arms tightened around her, holding her close but gently, as if she were something very precious that he had wanted for a long time but didn’t quite know what to do with, and she couldn’t let that stand for long. She reached up for him, hanging her arms around his neck and pulling in close, until her breasts were pressed up against his chest and his hands were drifting over her ass and it was happening, they were finally in the same place at the same time and they wanted this, and she –

He bent his head to kiss her, and objectively she knew his mouth tasted more or less the same as any other man’s, but it was _his_ and she loved him, and there was nothing sweeter than kissing him again. She met him eagerly, letting him set the pace but not once falling behind, and it was both familiar and new all over again, being in Harvey’s arms with his lips and his teeth and his tongue on hers…She shivered a little, almost overwhelmed with wanting him, and as he shifted slightly to hold her steady she could feel how much he wanted her. She squirmed and pushed in closer, wanting to wrap her legs around him but not sure her leverage or his balance would hold up.

“Scottie,” he panted, pulling his lips away from hers, his words mostly warm breath against her neck. “Scottie, can I take you to bed?”

She laughed in spite of herself.

“‘Take me to bed’? I’m sorry, Harvey, what century is this?”

“Stop it, okay? I don’t want you on the couch, or against the wall, or bent over the counter…I want you in my bed. Can I take you to bed.”

And suddenly Dana could barely breathe and she certainly couldn’t speak. She nodded, a little, and let out a bit of a startled cry as he lifted her off her feet and carried her towards the bedroom.

“You didn’t have to do that, you know,” she said, as he laid her on the bed. “I know it makes you feel like a big strong man, and all, but I would have followed you.”

“It turns me on to feel like a big strong man,” he replied, lightly, as he started to unbutton his shirt. “Although I can’t say it doesn’t also turn me on to hear you say you’d follow me.” He tossed the shirt aside and joined her on the bed, reaching for her ass and frowning, slightly, as he grabbed her.

“The downside of sleeping with you in a non-professional setting,” he grumbled. “I hate it when you wear pants.” Dana laughed and rolled her eyes.

“No, you like sheath dresses, preferably in white,” she agreed, unbuttoning her pants and pushing them down over her hips before pulling them off completely. “And if I’m only seeing you once a year or so, I’m happy to oblige. But if you want to work with me…or if you want me in your life…then you’re going to have to take your pants off, too, Specter,” she finished, grinning at him and reaching to unfasten his trousers. Harvey grinned back and obliged her, tossing them aside as well, and she loved that he wanted her badly enough to be careless with his clothes. She tugged her sweater off as well, and then they were stretched out across his bed, giggling and making out as if they were kids again.

“God, you’re pretty,” he mumbled, as he placed a row of kisses along her cleavage.

“So are you,” she retorted, cheekily, hooking her calves over his hips and arching her back when he popped the snap on her bra. He let out a low chuckle, muffled slightly by the soft skin of her breast, and she cut him off with a moan as he teased her nipple. She tightened her thighs around him, enjoying the friction as he rocked gently into her, tilting her head back to give him better access and pressing her fingertips into the flesh of his shoulders once she’d removed his undershirt.

“Mmm, that feels good,” he mumbled into her chest, and she smiled.

“That _is_ the point,” she teased, but Harvey shook his head.

“No…I meant your hands,” he corrected, panting slightly. “On my shoulders. It feels good.”

Belatedly, Dana remembered the old injury that still bothered him sometimes, but she didn't say anything. Instead, she kept up with her idle massage as he mouthed her breasts until they were both humming with want and everything was blurry and inevitable.

She rolled him over and moved down his body to pull off his boxers and pop his cock in her mouth, but it was more to see him writhe helplessly than because she needed to do it to turn him on. A couple of quick sucks and he’d pushed her onto her back, breathing hard as he kissed her neck and slid his fingers into her panties, pushing the waistband over her hips and groaning a little as he felt her.

“You wet for me, Scottie?” he panted, his voice rough. She grinned and wrapped her legs around his waist in response, squirming at the friction of his dick, hot and hard and _so_ close.

“I am,” she murmured in his ear. “Wanna do something about it?” His breath caught and he wriggled a little, straining, until she tilted her hips and reached down to put him inside her. He found the right angle and hit on the right rhythm, and it was a little too hot and a little too sweaty but every time she looked up, it was Harvey’s face, and that was all she wanted to see. She clung to him, digging her nails into his ass, pushing the pads of her fingers into the curve of his back, pressing open-mouthed kisses into his neck.

“Fuck, Harvey, that’s perfect,” she managed, and breathing was hard which made talking even harder, but he smiled when she said it, and screw it, breathing could wait. She tilted her head back, finding his lips with hers and kissing him as thoroughly as she could manage. He responded enthusiastically, never losing his rhythm, until Dana was lightheaded and Harvey’s body – Harvey _himself_ – was the only thing in the world.

He shifted his hips slightly, and there it was. She had to break their kiss because suddenly she was sure she was going to pass out, but Harvey didn't seem to mind. His breathing was harsh and his pupils were gigantic as he watched her come. His eyes stayed on her face as she relaxed, sinking bonelessly into the bed, and, still not sure she had enough breath to speak, she nodded for him to keep going.

He placed a quick, wet kiss on her neck before obliging, careful of her even though he was clearly getting desperate and his hips were moving faster and faster.

“Yeah, Harvey, do it, fuck me,” she gasped as her breathing started to level out. His eyes flashed and then squeezed shut and, really, this part was more than fun; it was easy. “God, you feel so good, I want your dick…yeah, fuck, do it, _fuck_ …” He grunted and thrust a little harder – a little faster – and there it was, he was groaning and shuddering and collapsing heavily on top of her. Dana tightened her arms and legs around him immediately, scratching her nails through his hair soothingly until his body stopped shaking.

"Hey, Harvey?" she said teasingly, her voice heavy with affection, as he rolled over to let his overheated body cool off. “I want you in my life.”

He shifted slightly, raised one eyebrow at her, and smirked.

“Oh, I know you do.”

“Mmm,” she agreed, leaning over to kiss him gently. “Okay. Not to ruin the mood, but I need to grab a shower.” Considering she was so sweaty that her hair was dangerously close to looking as though she had already _taken_ a shower, that was kind of an understatement, but Harvey just grinned.

“I’ll come with you,” he said, not getting out of bed. Dana smiled indulgently.

“An actual shower to get clean, Harvey. I promise, I’ll be back in five minutes.”

"Hey," he continued, actually sitting up and swinging his legs over. “I’ll come with you.” He looked down at the bed. “And maybe change the sheets, if you’re suddenly picky about clean.” She laughed a little as he came over to her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

“We’re pretty gross and sticky, Harvey.”

“You didn’t used to mind,” he reminded her, holding her close enough that she had to arch her back to look him in the face.

“What can I say; I’m not in my twenties anymore,” she responded, and she kissed him on the nose.

Harvey, of course, was taller enough than she was to block almost all of the water, but they did manage to rinse off, and he offered her a set of pajamas to sleep in (the pants didn’t fit, but the shirt was long enough to wear on its own), and he changed the sheets and got into bed with her, just like that. His arms quickly slid around her waist, pulling her closer, and even though she wasn’t always the biggest fan of cuddling, tonight it was all she wanted. She’d laid her cards on the table, and he’d come as close as Harvey-Specter-ly possibly to doing the same, and she would sleep in his arms tonight and figure out the rest of her life, in New York, tomorrow.


End file.
